I did not expect to hit this thread again before finishing that university paper which is dominating my life for the time being, but today was really awesome.
I got up relatively early in a fairly energetic mood and the day decided to be kind on me
There was a really Christmaslike atmosphere and it was not because of the freezing and nasty weather
My most recent ebay purchase arrived. 26 beautiful Time Life books on the Old West in perfect condition. Bless the European Union, they came from the UK which meant that the toll did not intercept the packet so I would have to pick it up (26 books are heavy) at their office and pay additional toll on them (as had been the case with the last books and LBT stuff I bought from the US). Moreover shipping costs really are influenced by whether the books have to travel merely over the channel or over the big pond. While I was still beaming over those books (pictures to follow in another thread) the next packet arrived. It was from the "Bundeszentrale f¸r politische Bildung" (Federal center for political education), one of the most sensible institutions founded on tax money within Germany. They issue books, booklets, and other documents on a large variety of political topics and most of their publications are entirely free (except for the shipping) and they are about as science-proofed as they can get (so they may be quoted in university papers as well). Apart from a large map of the world my order included booklets on German-American diplomatic relationships, coat of arms and flags of the different "Bundesl‰nder" of Germany, Nationalsocialism (two booklets), the German resistance movement between 1933-1945, Great Britain, France, Russia, the USA, International relationships, the Revolution of 1848, prejudices, the political system of the USA, security policy in the 21st century, and democracy... in short, I have a lot to read now once universtiy work's reading permits me to read something else
Furthermore I also got presents for my sister (whose birthday was on the 20th but I won't see her before this weekend when she comes down from Hamburg). I also got presents for my grandparents (paternal) who are celebrating their "diamont wedding" (60th anniversary of their wedding day!). Like all that was not enough I exceeded my expectations with regard to the progress with my university work today (and anyone who knows me from MSN can confirm that this is basically a case unheard of).
To sum it all up, "I am so happy..."
